6 Issue 258 - April / May 2025 www.signlink.co.uk INDUSTRY / NEWS FESPA UK launches Next Gen internship scheme FESPA UK has announced the launch of its Next Gen Supported Learning project, the next stage of its Next Generation project for young professionals. The trade association’s new initiative is designed to connect young people with career opportunities in the print, signage, and graphics industries. The fully funded programme offers a six-week work placement at a relevant company, followed by a one-year internship. The initiative is designed to be flexible, combining two to three days per week of workplace experience with two days per week of college learning. Goals of the initiative include bridging the skills gap, supporting employers in filling key job roles, and creating meaningful opportunities for young people with disabilities to gain work experience and progress into employment. Each intern will be supported by a dedicated job coach, who will provide guidance to the employers as the learners settle into their new role. The colleges taking part in the scheme will provide additional support including staff awareness training. FESPA UK aims for interns to secure permanent positions at their respective companies at the end of the scheme. If either the intern or the employer decides not to proceed with employment, the intern will continue their college education, and the employer will have the opportunity to hire another young person taking part in the initiative. Employers across England and Wales have been encouraged to contact FESPA UK directly to register their interest in taking part in the initiative. All participants in the scheme will be awarded a FESPA UK recognition certificate at the conclusion of the internship. Sign Trade Supplies debuts new educational resource Sign Trade Supplies (STS) has launched a new educational resource for the signage industry, the Sign Industry Knowledge Base. The Knowledge Base is designed to be the industry’s go-to resource for helpful information on signage. On the site, information is provided about the latest sign materials, design tips, and facts about the best tools to use for different jobs. The resource, available to the industry via the STS website, gathers articles on a wide range of sign-related topics and will be consistently updated with new information and articles. Topics covered include sign materials and components, design for signage and vehicle wraps, and manufacturing and fabrication techniques. Also included in the resource will be installation and fixing solutions, industry regulations and compliance, sales strategies, and marketing tips. UK out-of-home reports “best ever year” Outsmart, the trade body for the out-ofhome (OOH) advertising industry, has announced that UK OOH revenue in 2024 was the highest ever recorded. According to Outsmart, overall OOH revenue for year end 2024 saw a growth of 7.7% year-on-year, with total revenues of £1.4bn, the highest calculated amount for the industry. The figures, collated by PwC, show that digital out-of-home (DOOH) grew by 10.2%, with classic OOH up by 3%. This means that DOOH’s share of total revenue is now at 66%, a slight increase from 65% in 2023. However, according to Outsmart, Q4 2024 revenue was impacted by some uncertainty and a dip in business and consumer confidence surrounding the Labour government’s October budget. Year-on-year, a 2.2% decline in overall Q4 revenues was reported, with total revenues of £387.3m. Outsmart has reported that this impact may continue into early 2025. Last year Outsmart reported that UK spending in OOH for 2024 had reached £1bn in December, an increase of 12% compared to the same period last year. Cross-party meeting held for the protection of neon A formal meeting took place in February with a cross-party parliamentary group on the legal protection of neon sign-making. Catherine and Tony Spink of Neon Creations were invited by the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Craft to Portcullis House in London where they delivered a ten-minute presentation on preventing the misuse of the term 'neon sign' and other derivatives by companies that are selling LED alternatives and labelling them as neon. The meeting reportedly included representatives from the House of Commons and the House of Lords. According to Spink, who spoke about the meeting on LinkedIn: “Everyone agreed that something needs to be done. “Whether this be through legislation or a certification mark, changes will be happening one way or another as this misleading marketing has been going on for far too long. We were really pleased with the feedback we received on our presentation, so watch this space.” Since starting in January 2023, the Next Gen project has invited over 130 young professionals to industry and networking events Digital OOH revenue grew by 10.2% in 2024, now representing two thirds of all OOH revenue Neon Creations founders, Tony and Catherine Spink, have lobbied for better representation of traditional neon sign-making for several years By Jonathan Pert By Jonathan Pert signlink signlinkmagazine
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